NEA Releases New Research Tool on Working Artists
A new research resource from the National Endowment for the Arts gives statistical profiles of Americans who reported an artist occupation as their primary job, whether full-time, part-time, or self-employed. The dataset looks at artists in 11 distinct occupations, including actors; announcers; architects; art directors, fine artists, and animators; dancers and choreographers; designers; entertainers and performers; musicians; photographers; producers and directors; and writers and authors. Some tables offer data on employed artists in particular, while other tables measure all artists in the workforce, both employed and looking for work.
The NEA created these datasets based on the U.S. Census Bureau's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tables. Every ten years, the Census Bureau produces EEO tables using data from its annual American Community Survey (ACS). This set of EEO Tables are drawn from the ACS survey results for 2006-2010, which were combined to obtain a large enough sample. The EEO Tables are the federal standard for comparing the race, ethnicity, and gender composition of the labor market in specific geographic areas and job categories.